


The Thread That Holds

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Amish, Gen, Quilting, Witness Protection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-14 06:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14764461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	1. Chapter 1

“I’ll be right back and then I’ll help with the veggies, okay?” Jack asked, pointing his thumb backward toward the side of the road where a young girl stood with her quilts.

Aaron smiled softly as he nodded, knowing exactly why he wanted to be excused from harvesting their crops. The young girl was a year or so younger than Jack; she was very sweet and much like Jack, she didn’t seem completely suited to Amish life. But it was where they were now and they had to make the best of it.

As Jack jogged swiftly over to talk to the girl he was smitten with, Aaron returned to his work - or should he say Levi returned to his work while Daniel jogged toward his lady love.

Levi and Daniel Miller moved cities after the death of Daniel’s mother, Hannah, at least that was their story. Hannah’s presence at the house was too sad for them, so they held her in their hearts and moved a few towns away hoping to start a new life for themselves. No one in the area really paid them any mind, which was probably better for the most part - the less people they had to interact with, the less likely it was that they’d have their true identities discovered.

At the beginning of his Bureau days, Aaron would’ve never imagined himself in a place like this. Hell, even after they’d gone into witness protection he never imagined being in Amish country of all places, but that was probably what made this time and place such a fit for them. No one would be looking for the high-powered government official in the middle of a produce field. It had taken a long time and many fights between them to get used to this place, but after everything, Jack came to realize that this allowed him more time with his father, which he’d lost out on in their old lives.

Aaron had had a hard time getting used to things himself. Going from a 24/7 work-driven FBI agent to a relaxed Amish farmer was quite the adjustment, but he got to spend more time with Jack, Jack was safe, which was all he’d ever wanted, and he knew that if anything happened and Scratch found them, the team wouldn’t be far behind. Whether he saw them daily or not, he was sure his family always had his back.

That was the only thing that still hadn’t really sunk into his mind. He had Jack, and he thanked God for that, but his team was family too, and he hadn’t seen or spoke to them in years.

How was Emily fairing as Unit Chief?

That was a dumb question. She was and continued to be more than qualified for the position and hopefully seeing him give every waking moment to the job cautioned her from doing the same. On occasion, he heard from her through his burner phone, which technically he wasn’t supposed to keep, but going from technology crazy to cold turkey was way too hard, so he allowed himself the phone (hidden away in the house of course). 

How were JJ and Will and the boys doing?

Of course they were probably doing amazingly well, because unlike he and Haley, JJ and Will somehow balanced their family and work lives with ease. Probably not ease, but it seemed to be from outside eyes. 

Was Penelope still her shining, positive self despite the things she encountered every day?

He truly hoped so, or he’d never forgive himself for bringing her into the Bureau. Despite doing his job, either she join them or go to prison, the idea of him bringing her into this life only to have her lose all sense of hope was more than he could bear.

Did Tara and Luke feel like members of the family? 

Before he’d been forced to leave them in order to protect himself and all of those he loved, Tara and Luke had been too new for him to get to know them -to tell them that despite them being new, the team was a family and they were always in good hands.

What about Dave? Was he getting too tired of losing those he loved to the job? 

Granted, he wasn’t an ex-wife, but they’d been friends for ages, and leaving Dave high and dry had to be an adjustment. He missed the ease with which they always spoke, softly over aged whiskey.

And what about Reid?

When Emily told him that Reid had been framed for murder it had taken every cell in his body not to run back to DC and pull him out of there. Was he okay? Did he still have faith and hope in the world? He knew that Spencer would never actively turn against the family he’d surrounded himself with, but how could someone come out of an ordeal like that and remain the same? Since he returned home, Emily had gotten a few words to Aaron on occasion, letting him know that Spencer was alive and well - as far as they knew. He’d become slightly more closed off after everything, but he was still the agent and friend they loved, and still dedicated everything to the job. That was about all Aaron could hope for given where he was.

Speaking of, as he glanced upward, he saw Jack smile and blush at the girl in front of him. She was holding a particularly beautiful quilt, with delicate threading throughout, holding the bits and pieces of a story together despite their distance from each other. It was a beautiful piece in purples and blues, and he found himself wondering how much it was. Something about it made a wave of comfort come over him.

When she turned to leave, she gave him a smile, blushing furiously as she folded the quilt and placed it back in the carriage she was riding in. From the look on Jack’s face, they would see each other again. 

He did miss the life he used to lead, but his son was the most important person in his life, and he needed to be protected - and preferably happy - above all else. This was where they were meant to be now, and no matter how far apart they were, the rest of his family remained firmly tucked into his heart.


	2. The Ties That Bind

Thankfully, he didn’t live in 18th century Amish country, Jack thought to himself as he made his way to Elizabeth’s house. Maybe he wouldn’t have thought anything different of it because he would’ve be raised differently, but that kind of strict way of life was something he couldn’t really comprehend.

After meeting at a singing event, which he felt was the only way to meet someone in the community and still keep his identity secret, he introduced himself to Elizabeth. His father had fallen in love with the quilt she’d been holding outside his house and they’d purchased it. It was hanging on their wall as a display piece. Hand-dyed in blues and purples, it contained 16 pieces of fabric, all pulled together by thin, black threading. It wasn’t the usual Amish quilt; normally, they were much more “put together” patterns, but Elizabeth’s parents liked to encourage her creativity, so her quilts were truly unique. As soon as Aaron realized the quilt had 16 pieces, including a heart in the center, he was sold - himself, Jack, Haley, Jessica, Gideon, Rossi, Strauss, Derek, Penelope, Elle, Spencer, JJ, Emily, Alex, Tara, Luke. The pieces of himself he always carried with him with his heart at the center.

Elizabeth took a liking to him immediately, at least he thought so considering the way she blushed in his presence. Ever since, they’d met up frequently, normally with her family supervising, but occasionally at a local diner outside town that many of the teens in the area seemed to frolic to. Jack wasn’t accustomed to Amish dating customs, but he assumed they were “courting.”

Tonight was the first night he was going to her house though. And he was a little nervous about it. They’d been seeing each other for more than a year and Jack was pretty sure he was in love with her. Her family wasn’t super strict, but they did want her marrying an Amish boy, which meant he would need to become one in order to marry her - something he hadn’t brought up with his father yet, and something he could easily imagine himself doing for her - his Elizabeth. 

As he pulled his horse, Henry, after an old friend, into Elizabeth’s barn, he walked up to the house. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Fisher,” he said as they answered the door. His love popped her head out from behind her parents. “Hi, Elizabeth.”

“Hello Daniel,” she said shyly.

That’s who he was now. With his father around, he would hold a piece of Jack with himself forever, but he would gladly become Daniel if it meant spending his life with her.

\-----

He’d spent the night playing board games with Elizabeth, her brother John, and their parents by candlelight. A very old custom called bundling, where two people courting would literally sleep in the same bed and talk all night, was no longer practiced in most communities, but he’d stayed the night, sleeping across from Elizabeth while her parents slept on the opposite side of the room.

Making sure her parents were asleep, he reached his hand toward hers. They spoke of their childhoods, though his much more vague than hers. They spoke of their courtship. She told him how smitten she was with him and he with her. He asked of marriage. 

In a few years, after they’d both finished an associate’s degree at the local college, would she consider marrying him. Her giggly yes was all he could’ve hoped for.

That meant a conversation with his father. He needed to be fully welcomed into the community - he needed to become Amish.

“How was your night?” Aaron asked as his son walked in the door. He held up an eyebrow. After growing up in a world outside the Amish community in which they lived, it was hard for both of them to comprehend the innocence of the Amish, but Jack just snickered.

“Nothing like that. We talked a lot. Slept across from each other. It was very scandalous. We held hands.”

Aaron couldn’t have been happier for his son. Elizabeth was a sweet girl and if Jack loved her that’s all he wanted for him - to be happy. “I’m happy for you...Daniel.”

“Thanks Dad. Umm actually, I have something that I kind of need to bring up with you.”

Slowly, he sat down on the couch, a little worried at his son’s change of tone of voice. “What is it?”

“Obviously, it wouldn’t be before both of us finish some level of college, but I want to marry her.”

He was still young, but Aaron trusted that his son knew who he was and what he wanted. “Really?”

“Yes. I love her, Dad. But that would mean...I would have to become Amish.”

They lived in Amish country and had typically Amish names but they hadn’t been initiated into Amish life officially. “What would that entail?” He prayed it wouldn’t require Jack needing to cut any non-Amish people out of his life.

“I’m not exactly sure yet. Her parents aren’t very strict, but they do want her to marry an Amish boy.”

“Are you still allowed to...see me?” After everything that had happened to the two of them, he didn’t know if he could stomach not being able to see his only child.

“I assume so,” Jack replied confidently. But there was a hint of fear in his voice. “I’ll talk to her parents. I promise.”

\-----

Being a parent was hard.

He wanted Jack to be happy, but if being happy meant never getting to see him again, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle it.

After Jack was asleep, he reached under the floorboards near his bed and picked up the burner phone, dialing the one person whose advice he needed now more than ever. “Hello?” She asked softly, confusion at the random number.

“JJ?”

There was a moment of hesitation on the line. “Hotch?” She whispered.

“It’s me.” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“It’s so good to hear your voice. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I just needed to ask your advice. You know in what area we were stationed right? Emily told you?” 

She did. It was something the team probably shouldn’t have known, but they kept his secret, and they didn’t know in what state he resided. “Yea. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing per se. It’s just Jack has started seeing someone here...and he wants to marry her.” Could he lose his son? He had no idea of Amish customs. 

JJ sounded so happy for him. Aaron could hear the quiver in her voice. “What’s the problem?”

“He would have to convert and I don’t know what that means for my relationship with him.” There were few moments in his life when he remembered being equally afraid. “I could lose him.”

Now she understood why he’d called her so late at night. “I don’t think that’s how things work anymore, if they ever did, I mean. I could ask Reid?”

“Thanks,” he laughed softly. “I’m just afraid of losing him.”

She couldn’t imagine never seeing Henry or Michael again, but she also wanted her boys to be happy. “I know you just want Jack to be happy. You have to trust that he will choose what’s best for him.”

The old friends spoke for a little while longer, reminiscing about old times while talking about their kids. “Just trust that Jack will know what to do, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied. It was easier said than done, but he would try.

“No problem. Take care of yourself, Aaron.”

He felt better now. Life was uncertain, but his love for his son wasn’t. Like the thread in the quilt that had brought Elizabeth and Jack together in the first place, his love for his son would keep them together no matter how far apart they were. Whatever Jack decided, it would be for him. That’s how it needed to be.

“I will. Thank you, JJ.”


End file.
